In the show’s heyday, a billion people worldwide watched Upstairs, Downstairs, the saga of a family of London aristocrats who shared a house at 165 Eaton Place with a fleet of salt-of-the-earth servants. The series, which aired in a reported 70 countries, won seven Emmy Awards and two BAFTAs and became such a fixture of the cultural landscape that when the Muppets spoofed it on Monsterpiece Theater, Alistair Cookie welcomed viewers to “Episode 793.” He was exaggerating: there were actually 68 episodes over five seasons, the first of which began airing in Britain 40 years ago. Which means that this…
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